GABON TO HOST 2017 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS

Gabon has been selected to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. The decision was made by the Confederation of African football (CAF) executive committee in Cairo, Egypt on Wednesday April 8th 2015.

Gabon won the hosting rights when they won the most votes cast by the executive committee to determine the country to host the competition.

Gabon was not the only country hoping to host the tournament as they faced stiff competition and opposition from Algeria and Ghana.

By winning the hosting rights, Gabon will be hosting the tournament for a second time. The first time they hosted the competition was in 2012 when they co-hosted the tournament together with Equatorial Guinea.

Gabon now replaces Libya who was the original host for the competition but had to withdraw and pull out due to the civil war that took over the country disrupting plans for hosting the tournament as well as bringing all football activities in the country to a halt.

Gabon will use four venues for the tournament they include Libreville and Franceville, which were the cities used in 2012 and also Oyem and Port Gentil which will be ready before the tournament kicks off.

The tournament is scheduled to hold between January and February in 2017, with 16 teams taking part in the tournament.